hero's shadow // mha

89) hastur's plea

One of his clients is dead.

Izuku stares at the photos he was sent on his phone, his face shadowed. It was obviously not an accident—unless there is a universe where a body can spontaneously explode from the inside.

But this is not such a universe. The more obvious explanation is that Izuku's client was murdered. And brutally so.

Not to point fingers or anything, but this is very similar to a certain someone's quirk Izuku has been studying for the past month straight. Which means Izuku is now beyond pissed, and also more determined than ever.

He has already asked Kaida to make sure the members of the Club keep their guard up. Patrols around the city have been extended to the neighboring districts too, and the numbers of them have increased. In addition, there are to be an extra four members in each unit, all equipped with high-end technology to ensure the fastest response time in the event of an emergency.

The Champions on the other end of Japan are reporting to him now, giving their own research and data. Izuku couldn't be more grateful.

Another issue is that the doctor won't be available for a couple of weeks, as he's been asked to help with an uptick of wounded members in the district on the opposite coast. Izuku doesn't like this idea so much, but he has no real reason to object, so he concedes. Soon, he has to return to his Club location to retrieve a gift the doctor supposedly left him, but for now it's not a priority.

All in all, it's an incredibly stressful start to the day. Izuku tries to pay attention in class, but he can only do so much with the weight of all this on his back. And so, right after lunch, Izuku isn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he could be.

He should've learned from the incident with Shouto yesterday, honestly.

He's walking beside Uraraka, listening to her talk excitedly about the trip she has planned with her parents—a first in years. He replies to her in kind every once in a while, trying to focus on what she's saying while his mind is in an entirely different world. He's grateful he has her with him, though, as she's always been a wonderful person to be around. She keeps him on his toes, and they call nearly every day.

It's his attention being divided twice already that makes it difficult for Izuku to sense what comes next.

Extract, to its credit, warns him of Copy the moment it gets within thirty feet of him, but Izuku pushes it aside in favor of thinking about how exactly he's going to get on Sir Nighteye's good side after school.

And so, when Monoma approaches him after emerging from the throng of students, Izuku is caught off guard.

The halls are so loud that if Monoma hadn't stepped right in front of him, Izuku wouldn't have heard what he said at all—at least, he wouldn't have thought it was towards him.

"Hey," he begins, blond bangs falling in front of his right eye, "Midoriya! Heard you've been in some trouble recently, is that right?"

Izuku blinks, wondering which incident he's referring to. There are a lot of things he's recently done that could be floating around school. Sometimes he forgets he's also the representative for all first years at the school, not just the ones in the hero course. It always comes as a surprise when people point at him in the halls.

Uraraka speaks first, annoyed. "Can't you gossip somewhere else, Monoma?" She pushes Izuku's shoulder, trying to guide him away and back towards class. They have Ectoplasm's lecture next, and he's not always lenient with tardiness.

"What's with the hostility? We just want to know if it's true or not," Monoma dismisses, moving smoothly back in front of them—almost bumping right into Uraraka. In fact, if she hadn't jerked herself back, he would've.